Clutch-controller



D. R. STEELE. CLUTCH CONTROLLER.

Patented Apr. 15,1890.

(No Model.)

l UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

DAVID R. STEELE, OF IVA'IRLOO, NEV YORK.

CLUTCH-CONTROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent N0. 425,465, dated April15, 1890.

Application filed August 30, 1889. Serial No. 322,445. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID R. STEELE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Waterloo, in the county of Seneca and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clutch-Controllers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates vto the Vmeans employed for controlling or settingand releasing y clutches, so as to render them alternately operative andinoperative.

Hitherto clutch devices have been variously constructed. In theaccompanying drawings I have shown a frictional clutch, such as hasheretofore been employed for rotating the drum of hoisting machines orengines, and I have also there shown such a machine suf*- ciently toindicate one way in which myimprovements may be reduced to practice, allof which I will hereinafter more fully describe and explain.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of so much ofa hoisting machine or engine embodying my improvements as willillustrate one mode of applying my invention to use. Fig. 2 is avertical central longitudinal section of the same, Fig. 3 is a likerepresentation, enlarged, and more clearly showing those parts whichembrace my invention; and Fig. 4 is a section in the plane of the linea; c of Fig. 3, viewed in the direction in dicated by the arrow thereshown.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

A represents the frame of the machine.

B is a rotary shaft mounted in fixed bearings or a. One end or portionof this shaft is hollow or bored out longitudinally, as indicated at b.,Figs. 3 and et, and c c are slots entering the inner part of the tubularportion of the shaft, which may be termed the drumshaft, as willhereinafter more fully appear.

C is a gear-wheel keyed to and turning with the shaft B on the innerside of the wheel C, and rigidly attached thereto is a male cone C',constituting one member of the clutch device.

D is adrum, on one end of which is al female cone D, adapt ed to engagewith the cone O', as is usual in frictional clutches of this class.

E is a flange or guard on the other end of the drum.

F is a cylindrical bar entering and adapted to turn freely in thechamber h, and d is an annular groove in the said bar near' lits innerend.

e is a screwethread on the said bar near its outer end.

G is a nut upon the screw e. This nut is rendered fixed or immovable bybeing attached to the frame or other fixed part in any suitable way-forexample, by means of small rods ff and nuts g g, as is clearly shown 1nthe drawings.

H is a handle or lever keyed or fastened to the outer end of the bar F.

The part D may be termed the sliding member of the clutch.

I I are loose blocks or keys made to enter the groove d and to overlapthe enlarged inner end of 'the bar F.

J is a cap or retainer screwed or otherwise securely fastened to aflanged piece or hub K, rigidly or firmly attached to the drum D androtating with it, it being understood that the cap .I is loose upon theshaftB and turns with the said hub. It will be observed that the blocksI IA project through the slots c c, and enter a space between the end ofthe hub and the head of the cap; but these blocks are small enough topermit the free rotation referred to, and the said slots are long enoughto permit a forward and backward movement of the blocks. The function ofthe cap is simply to retain the blocks in their proper places, and Iwould regard any other retainerr performing that function as theequivalent of that shown. I may also here explain that the blocks I Iperform the function of sliding the drum into or out of frictionalcontact with the cone C', as the rod F is moved back or forth by beingrotated in the nut G, as will hereinafter more fully appear; and I donot, therefore, here intend to confine myself to the particular formshown of the parts co-operating with that result. The cap J, and thepiece to which it is attached, may be termed a recessed or chamberedextension or hub of the drum D. It will now be perceived that by rockingthe handle H in one direction slightly the bar or rod F will be to thatextent rotated, and that as the screw e upon it is thus turned in thenut G, which is IOO stationary or fixed, the bar will, for example, beadvanced in the direction of the cone C', and that the blocks I I byentering the cap J in the manner described Will push the drum in thesame direction until it is clutched by the said cone sufficiently to berotated and to lift its load; also, that When'the handle is rotated inthe opposite direction the drum will be pulled from the said cone and befree to'rotate inl the reverse direction. In other Words, there is apositive push or pull con nection or engagement between the slidingmember D of the clutch and the handle H. A slight movement of the handleand aslight force applied to it Will be sufficient to render the clutcheither operative or inoperative, as may be desired or necessary. It willalso be perceived that a double drum may be controlled in like manner,and that the Wheel C maybe driven in anyv suitable orwell known- Way.

I desire to state, further, that two blocks orkeys I I are notabsolutely essential, as one would be operative for the purposes setforth; but I regard it as preferable to employ two,

asthe pus-h and pull would then be more easy, being derived fromoppositely-arranged blocks.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure byLetters Patent, is-

The combination, in ahoisting-machinaiof a drum-shaft B, having aslotted hollow portion h, the sliding drum D,'loosely mounted Signed atWaterloo, in the county of Seneca A and State of New York, this 26th dayof August, A. D.1889.'

DAVID R. STEELE.

ltnesses:

EDWARD NUGENT, CHAS. K. HEINQN.

